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Mother of three arrives at the Newmarket Courthouse in support of the Neville-Lake family who lost 3 children and their children’s grandfather in a car crash due to an impaired driver.

Paige Currie, 24, said she does not drink and drive because it puts everybody’s life at risk.

“I would definitely say no,” Currie said about whether the penalties for impaired driving are harsh enough in Canada.

Currie said she thinks people will still do whatever they want to do when it comes to drinking and driving. She said people cannot really control that, but stricter laws might help.

Kai Cui, 28, is a second-year Humber College student in the business management program. He said safety is of primary concern for him.

“It’s serious, you know, you’re drinking and you know that can be dangerous,” Cui said.

Driver at the wheel while drinking alcohol.

Rejoice Jerry, 24, in the Humber nursing program said she would not drink and drive.

“I know how it impacts others’ lives and I know the safety risks involved,” Jerry said.

Jerry also said there should be harsher punishments in place for those convicted of impaired driving.

Carolyn Swinson is a victim service volunteer for Mothers Against Drunk Driving. She lost her father to a drunk driver and 12 years later, her son. The person responsible for killing her son had their charges acquitted which Swinson says prompts her to believe the penalties in Canada need to be higher.

What MADD is hoping for are three things soon. One of them is a mandatory breath testing. The second is lowering the legal limit from 0.08 per cent to 0.05 per cent. Lastly, she said impaired driving involving drugs needs to be targeted as well.

Swinson said the RCMP were testing devices similar to road-side breathalyzers and they were approved. They are now waiting for them to give police the authority to use them, she said.

CEO of MADD, Andrew Murie, also said he agrees that more needs to be done as driving while drinking is the primary reason for criminal death in Canada, according to the Newstalk 1010 website.